Nathen McEown admits that he\u2019s somewhat of a unicorn.<\/p>\n
He has spent his entire career at the same accounting firm. That\u2019s about as common today as a Blockbuster membership card.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt probably happens in public accounting a little more often than others, but yeah, it’s definitely, these days, there’s not a lot of folks that have been at one job their whole career,\u201d McEown says. \u201cBut I’ve had so much fun being here. I just can’t imagine being anywhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
McEown began his journey at Whitley Penn as a green college intern in the Dallas office in 2004. More than 20 years later, he is the firm\u2019s CEO, having succeeded Larry Autrey in January.<\/p>\n
McEown moved into the top role from his post as partner-in-charge of consulting and chief growth officer. McEown\u2019s ascent began in 2016 when he \u201ckind of raised my hand\u201d to lead the somewhat new Houston office.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can remember interviewing with Whitley Penn, and in that interview I think I said I wanted to become partner, so I always had kind of a goal,\u201d McEown says. \u201cThen as I got closer to partner, I just fell in love with the business, and the business of public accounting is just so people-focused and really loved it and the dynamics of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upon the announcement of McEown\u2019s appointment \u2014 as well as Toby Cotton becoming COO \u2014 Autrey said he was \u201cbeyond thrilled\u201d for the two.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have personally mentored both Nathen and Toby for many years and believe this is the best transition strategy for the future of the firm,\u201d Autrey said. \u201cAs\u00a0tenured Whitley Penn partners, they will hold our culture and mission of superb customer service as core pillars of what makes Whitley Penn unique.\u201d<\/p>\n
Autrey, who has more than 30 years of tax, advisory, and business valuation experience focused on public and private clients, had served as the CEO for Whitley Penn for more than 20 years. He moved into the role of executive chairman.<\/p>\n
Under his leadership, the firm expanded exponentially, from 50 to nearly 900 employees. The firm has nine offices across Texas and New Mexico, with eight of them opening under Autrey’s guidance.<\/p>\n
Moreover, Autrey led the firm through more than a dozen acquisition events.<\/p>\n
The leadership transition began about two years ago, McEown says. When the change officially took effect this year, there wasn\u2019t much change because McEown says he and Cotton had already taken on many of the day-to-day tasks.<\/p>\n
\u201cLarry had a great vision, and he did a lot of things in passing off certain duties to me and Toby Cotton,\u201d McEown says. \u201cWe kind of eventually started doing things that he was doing. A lot of the day-to-day tasks that Larry was handling, he already very wisely and discreetly kind of was clicking off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whitley Penn in March ranked No. 34 in Accounting Today\u2019s \u201cTop 100.\u201d The firm also ranked 36th among the tax firms, as well as the second-largest firm in the Southwest.<\/p>\n
McEown has bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees in accounting from Texas Tech. A native of Rockwall, McEown went to college with an eye on computer science.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the hot thing,\u201d he says of computer science in the late 1990s. \u201cI think it was the highest paying major at Tech. That’s how I picked my degree, which is a terrible way to pick your degree. I had no passion or interest in it, and soon as I started programming, I realized this wasn’t for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
His objective turned to doing something that offered job security.<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided I needed to go somewhere where there’s always going to be work,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd accounting was that. It definitely was the right option for me. Then I got into the industry and just fell in love with public accounting.\u201d<\/p>\n
McEown\u2019s career at Whitley Penn has been a steady ascent marked by leadership, innovation, and an eye for growth. He joined the firm as an auditor and rose through the ranks to become audit partner in 2015.<\/p>\n
As Whitley Penn\u2019s former energy practice leader, McEown worked closely with private equity-backed energy companies and spearheaded several initiatives, including the launch of the firm\u2019s Client Accounting and Advisory Services (CAAS) Energy Outsourced Accounting, Land Administration, and Mineral Management divisions.<\/p>\n
After relocating his family from Dallas to Houston in 2016, he led the Houston office as partner-in-charge for six years before joining the firm\u2019s management committee in 2022 as partner-in-charge of consulting.<\/p>\n
In 2024, he took on the role of chief growth officer, identifying and leading two key acquisitions that further strengthened the firm\u2019s consulting practice.<\/p>\n
As CEO, McEown continues to champion professional development through the firm\u2019s Growth Champions initiative, helping senior managers prepare for partnership.<\/p>\n
\u201cLuckily, Whitney Penn allowed me at a young age to do a lot of things that a lot of bigger firms wouldn’t have,\u201d McEown says. \u201cSo, I’m pretty fortunate that I always had support behind me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond his executive responsibilities, McEown is a recognized industry leader. He co-authored \u201cPPC Practice Aids for Audits of Oil and Gas Entities,\u201d published by Thomson Reuters, and has been honored by the Dallas Business Journal as both a \u201cWho\u2019s Who in Energy\u201d and \u201c40 Under 40\u201d honoree.<\/p>\n
McEown also serves on Texas Tech University\u2019s Accounting Advisory Council. He received his bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s in accounting from there.<\/p>\n
Outside the firm, McEown is deeply involved in community leadership. He co-founded the Bayou City Chapter of the Young Presidents\u2019 Organization in Houston, where he serves as learning officer, and chairs the audit committee for the American Council on Exercise Fitness nonprofit.<\/p>\n
McEown takes charge during a time of change, perhaps even volatility. Artificial intelligence is uncharted territory for firms across the country. Its role in public accounting is evolving.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest challenge to public accounting in general right now, probably two things,\u201d McEown says. \u201cOne, AI. How will that shape, change the way we work? I don’t think it’s going to replace us, but I think we all need to learn how to use AI and leverage it to kind of upskill. That’s going to be very dynamic over the next five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then private equity getting into the space. Zero firms were owned by private equity in 2020, and today there’s probably 20-plus firms in the top 100 owned by private equity.\u201d<\/p>\n
McEown says the firm\u2019s objective is to roughly double its revenues, to $500 million, by 2030. He says it can do that with an if-it\u2019s-not-broken-don\u2019t-fix-it mindset. The firm has flourished during the past 10 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to continue on that mindset,\u201d he says. \u201cI think we’re going to focus on finding those M-and-A opportunities that are creative but not necessarily marketed deals \u2014 something that maybe we build through a relationship and continue that organic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
He says he\u2019d like to continue to grow the advisory practice, which is about currently 26% of the firm’s revenue. A double down in Texas just might do that, he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big key is you have to grow to provide opportunity for those below us,\u201d he says. \u201cIt’s really to keep the best talent and people satisfied. As long as we’re growing enough to provide that opportunity, then we’re in a pretty good spot.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nathen McEown admits that he\u2019s somewhat of a unicorn. He has spent his entire career at the same…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[14072,26391,116,118,117,2862,3433,873,92,13165],"class_list":["post-71621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-accounting","tag-cpa","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-john-henry","tag-personnel","tag-texas-tech-university","tag-top-story","tag-whitley-penn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}